I’m a first semester freshman this fall, and I’m beginning to stress out about my major. Right now I’m majoring in mechanical engineering (ME). What I’m worried about is going through with this major and getting out into the world, then hating my job/life. That seriously scares me. For those who will mention it, I am involving my advisor, I just would like as many different viewpoints as I can get so I don’t miss anything.
I chose engineering my senior year in high school with money in mind. I loved working with cars and small engines and metal working always interested me, and I am a smart kid. Why not engineering, right? Well I’m having second thoughts. There’s no way, that I know of, to know if engineering is right for me.
My other passion is computers. I’ve successfully built two computers, one of them for my grandmother. And for those that know what it is, I did fairly well in FBLA, taking a test in cyber security. When I was young, I installed linux on my parent’s desktop just to do it. I’ve dabbled in coding. My point is I love most things technology and always have.
I feel that I can make it through either program, so that isn’t a factor.
This is where my questions begin. Should I continue with ME and into uncharted territory, on the basis that I enjoy related topics? Or should I switch to a computer-related major (computer engineering or computer science) and into more familiar territory? And most importantly, should salary be a factor in my decision?
Computer science is almost all coding. Computer engineering is a lot of coding too. Coding is pretty handy for engineers too - you should take a little. But the point is, until you know how comfortable you are with coding, I wouldn’t rush into a computer-related major, even computer engineering.
It sounds from what you’ve written that building things is more your forte. That would suggest engineering.
I wouldn’t be too worried about relative salary. Both of those fields do well pay-wise.
Surely not ALL computer science jobs are coding, right? What about network and system administrators? I read that that is more along the lines of dealing with hardware and programs.
"Day to day, my job involves design meetings, quiet design work at my desk, building prototypes with my hands (awesome!), testing the prototype to failure (MORE AWESOME!), working with vendors to manufacture my prototypes, traveling the world to manufacturing facilities to ensure my design is implemented properly.
“In larger companies, the mechanical design engineer’s role is smaller. They may only design, or only test, or only travel to manufacturing facilities, etc.”
System engineers, meanwhile, optimize systems such as power plants.
It actually looks to me that the school part is more demanding than the working part. The people who would know better than I are in the Engineering majors forum; perhaps you ought to put your post there.
Those jobs don’t involve as much coding, and sometimes CS majors are hired for them, but CS as a major at college involves a lot of coding.
Opportunities for network admin/sysadmin education are going to depend a lot on where you go to school. Liberal artsier places may not even offer it. I would consult the course catalog and speak with an academic and/or career advisor.
I would also look up MIS and see if your school has a program. It’s usually offered in the business school.
I’m a first semester freshman this fall, and I’m beginning to stress out about my major. Right now I’m majoring in mechanical engineering (ME). What I’m worried about is going through with this major and getting out into the world, then hating my job/life.
So then you just change your job.
I majored in psychology. In my junior year of college, I decided that I wanted to go into public health research. So I went to grad school and spent 6 years getting a PhD in it. In my first post-grad school job (as a postdoctoral researcher), I realized that among other things, I was pretty bored with public health. So I changed careers into user research in technology. Now I love my job - but I have no idea if I still will in 5 or 10 years. Luckily, my psych major and my PhD in the area, plus the experience I’m getting here, will prepare me for work in all kinds of fields.
There’s no way that you can predict the future. You know the general universe of things you are currently interested in; you know what you’d like to do as you think about your future career now. There’s no guarantee that in 10 years you’ll still love it - but that’s okay, because people change their careers all the time (usually without going back to school). You could work as an engineer for 5 years and then get a master’s in public policy. Or you can become a program manager in an engineering firm. Or you can try your hand at marketing research. Who knows? But your major in college at ages 18-22 doesn’t tie you to a career for the rest of your natural life. It’s just the beginning.
If you like mechanical engineering and you are reasonably sure that you’d like to begin your post-college life in that field, then continue in the major.